NY ATM scam: How it might affect SF residents

If the Occupy movement didn’t convince you to close your bank account, recent ATM theft of close to a quarter million dollars in a major US city just might.

Pinhole cameras and hidden card-reading devices were used by three men from Quebec to steal the debit card information of nearly 1,500 Chase customers in New York’s Union Square, according to a recent report by the NYTimes. Maybe it wasn’t San Francisco’s Union Square, but that doesn’t mean residents of the Bay couldn’t be affected.

New York is the most desired travel location for San Franciscans, as well as San Francisco the most desired for New Yorkers, according to the travel website KAYAK. ATM scams can happen to anyone, but since so many SFers love to travel to NY it might be best to practice extra caution if you’re taking a trip this holiday season.

Theft such as this is more likely to happen around the holidays, according to CBS News. They refer to this type of incident as “skimming”, and tell readers to also look out for gift card and internet fraud.

Two of the three men involved, Nikolai Ivanov and Dimitar Stamatov, were arrested in May during their second theft attempt, and face criminal charges such as burglary and larceny. Iordan Ivanov, a mechanic, has not been arrested, but would face the same charges.